World Cup LIVE as England land in Qatar for first training session

England squad: The Three Lions have landed in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup (Image: Express Sport)The countdown to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is on with just four days until the hosts kick off the tournament against Ecuador on Sunday, with England set to play their first game against Iran on November 21. Gareth Southgate’s squad have already touched down in the Middle East after flying out on Monday as the Three Lions prepare for their group stage curtain raiser.Southgate has named a 26-man squad including stars such as Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Harry Maguire as England look to make another impression on the world stage, having reached the semi-finals in 2018 and the final of Euro 2020.After a poor Nations League campaign that saw the Three Lions booed at Wembley on more than one occasion, all eyes are on Southgate to turn things around in Qatar and regain the faith of supporters after coming under fire in recent months, with some suggestions it could be his final tournament after six years in charge.Manager Southgate will be hoping that his side can navigate their way through Group B unscathed, with games against Iran, USA and Wales to come. He has already dropped a hint over his team selection after revealing his squad numbers on Monday, with training set to get underway at the team’s base in Al Wakrah on Wednesday.FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES 10 mins ago07:41 Joe KrishnanEngland are due to hold their first training session this morning at their base in Al Wakrah as Gareth Southgate begins preparations for their opening clash against Iran.The Three Lions are scheduled to train every day before their first game on Monday and will be acclimatising to the heat in the region, with temperatures rising to nearly 30C in the daytime. But Southgate is also keen to prepare the players mentally as well as physically after a gruelling first half of the season with their respective clubs.’With the players we want to talk to them about the excitement of going to a World Cup,’ Southgate said. ‘We understand the need to comment on the off-field things that surround this tournament, but we want the players to feel that enthusiasm that they’ve had since kids.’We want to fuel that. The first couple of days we won’t be on the training pitch, bar a couple [of players] that will need to do something. We want them to transition from a hectic club schedule to thinking about England.”We want to talk to them about the fact that this, whatever happens over the next four weeks, has been the second-best period for English football. We can make it the best.” 12 mins ago07:39 Joe KrishnanAshley Young has admitted he cannot watch England’s 2018 semi-final defeat to Croatia as it is still too painful as the Aston Villa veteran reflected on their mistakes from four years ago.He said: ‘I cannot watch it. We should have won it. We should have got to the final.”Even now, it kills me trying to talk about it. I don’t like hearing about the game, either.’I know how good an opportunity we had as a group. We were naive in the second half.” 14 mins ago07:37 Joe KrishnanWelcome to Express Sport’s LIVE coverage of World Cup news from Qatar!Grab yourself of a cup of coffee and get settled in as we bring you all the team news, squad updates and plenty more from the Middle East ahead of this weekend’s World Cup opening fixture.Stay tuned!